BIC Magazine April 2016 : Page 72

INSIDE INDUSTRY By: BRUCE TULGAN, CEO Rainmaker Thinking Inc. Powerful forces of history: Workforce 2020 Part II he “generational shift” is no ordinary sion, the world is becoming more diverse generation gap in the workplace. Because and more integrated. Each generation is this is an era of profound historical changes, more diverse than the last. That’s true in generational difference today is not only an terms of geographical point of origin, ethnic important diversity issue but also a power-heritage, ability/disability, age, language, ful lens through which to understand the lifestyle preference, sexual orientation, changing labor market, workforce, workplace, color, size and every other way of categoriz-nature of employment and even changes in the ing people. Every single individual, with very nature of work. We should not expect his/her own combination of background, the new millennial workforce to eventually traits and characteristics, is his or her own “grow up and settle down” and start thinking unique diversity story. and behaving more like those of previous Virtual reality. We are all plugged into generations. Rather, the “grown-ups” will find an endless stream of content and in continu-themselves thinking and behaving more and ous dialogue, forever mixing and matching more like the millennials. That’s because the and manipulating from an infinite array of second-wave millennials have been shaped by sources to create and then project back out the same historical forces of change driving into the world our own ever-changing per-the fundamental transformation of life and sonal montage of information, knowledge, work for us all. The great “generational shift” meaning and selfhood. is an epic turning point driven by profound The final article in this series will focus historical trends that have been unfolding in on “transformation in the very nature of plain sight for at least two decades. employment.” Globalization. We are all now capable For more information, visit www. of connecting and traveling to work across rainmakerthinking.com or email borders in every direction and combination. Bruce Tulgan at brucet@rainmaker Unlike any other time in history, we can all thinking.com. look forward to a lifetime of interde-Workforce of pendency and competition with a rising Workforce of the Future the Past global youth tide from every corner of this ever-flattening world. Globalization Means threat Means opportunity Technology. The pace of technolog-Technology Eliminates jobs Creates jobs ical advances today is unprecedented. Institutions Anchors of security Hubs of resources In every aspect of life, anything can become obsolete at any time; possibili-To be fi ltered, vetted, Information To be gathered and analyzed harnessed and leveraged ties appear and disappear swiftly, radi-Change Reluctant, cautious Expected, embraced cally and often without warning. Institutional insecurity. Ours is a Relationships Hierarchical Situational world threatened by terrorism and envi-Self-directed, collaborative, Directed and facilitated, ongoing, open-ended and defi ned curriculum, specifi c Learning/Training Preferences ronmental cataclysm, one in which the multiple-source goal orientation economy fluctuates wildly from boom Formal, through Constant, ongoing, high-tech Communication Style to bust; governments sometimes shut proper channels and high-touch down or run out of money; and great Relying on expertise and Forced to improvise due to so Problem Solving standard operating procedures many “fi rst ever” problems companies conquer, fail, merge or con-Research and development, Iteration, testing tinually downsize, restructure and re-Innovation trial and error and reiteration engineer. Institutions in every domain Team consulted, involved Decision Making Team informed have been forced into a constant state and persuaded of flux in order to survive and succeed Position, rules, Talent, respect, infl uence Legitimate Authority chain-of-command in this constantly changing world. We all know we cannot rely on institutions Build a career around the kind Attitude about Life and Career Build a life around my career of life I want to have anymore to be the anchors of our suc-How Th ey Look at Where do I fi t in Where do YOU fi t in MY cess and security. Th eir Employers your organization? life story? The information environment. We Work Habits and One–size fi ts all Customization of everything Work Conditions are all now forced to think, learn and communicate in a never-ending ocean Please help me do my job... Please just let me do my job... Give me guidance, support and I’ll let you know if there’s a What Th ey are Looking for of information. Ours is an informa-feedback every step problem, and please do the in a Manager of the way same for me tion environment defined by wireless Performance Evaluation Annual or semi-annual review Regular and frequent reviews Internet ubiquity, wholesale technol-ogy integration, infinite content and What Th ey are Looking for Job security Flexibility First and Foremost in a Job immediacy. We have infinite access to information and ideas and perspectives. Leadership/Management Style Authoritarian, directive Coaching, teaching, dialogue Human diversity. In every dimen-T TURNAROUND VIDEO SECURITY CONTRACTOR FIREWATCH PROGRAMS VIDEO SOLUTIONS, FIXED OR MOBILE TWIC ACCESS CONTROL MOTOROLA XPR7550 INTRINSICALLY SAFE RADIO RENTALS ON-SITE DIGITAL RADIO REPEATERS VIDEO SYSTEM DESIGN, MAINTENANCE, INSTALLATION ISNETWORLD MEMBER RENTAL-SALES-SERVICE • (And the Future is Now) (Other than Money and Benefi ts) 72 April 2016 Read BIC Magazine online at BICMagazine.com

Powerful Forces Of History: Workforce 2020

Bruce Tulgan

Part II

The “generational shift” is no ordinary generation gap in the workplace. Because this is an era of profound historical changes, generational difference today is not only an important diversity issue but also a powerful lens through which to understand the changing labor market, workforce, workplace, nature of employment and even changes in the very nature of work. We should not expect the new millennial workforce to eventually “grow up and settle down” and start thinking and behaving more like those of previous generations. Rather, the “grown-ups” will find themselves thinking and behaving more and more like the millennials. That’s because the second-wave millennials have been shaped by the same historical forces of change driving the fundamental transformation of life and work for us all. The great “generational shift” is an epic turning point driven by profound historical trends that have been unfolding in plain sight for at least two decades.

Globalization. We are all now capable of connecting and traveling to work across borders in every direction and combination. Unlike any other time in history, we can all look forward to a lifetime of interdependency and competition with a rising global youth tide from every corner of this ever-flattening world.

Technology. The pace of technological advances today is unprecedented. In every aspect of life, anything can become obsolete at any time; possibilities appear and disappear swiftly, radically and often without warning.

Institutional insecurity. Ours is a world threatened by terrorism and environmental cataclysm, one in which the economy fluctuates wildly from boom to bust; governments sometimes shut down or run out of money; and great companies conquer, fail, merge or continually downsize, restructure and reengineer. Institutions in every domain have been forced into a constant state of flux in order to survive and succeed in this constantly changing world. We all know we cannot rely on institutions anymore to be the anchors of our success and security.

The information environment. We are all now forced to think, learn and communicate in a never-ending ocean of information. Ours is an information environment defined by wireless Internet ubiquity, wholesale technology integration, infinite content and immediacy. We have infinite access to information and ideas and perspectives.

Human diversity. In every dimension, the world is becoming more diverse and more integrated. Each generation is more diverse than the last. That’s true in terms of geographical point of origin, ethnic heritage, ability/disability, age, language, lifestyle preference, sexual orientation, color, size and every other way of categorizing people. Every single individual, with his/her own combination of background, traits and characteristics, is his or her own unique diversity story.

Virtual reality. We are all plugged into an endless stream of content and in continuous dialogue, forever mixing and matching and manipulating from an infinite array of sources to create and then project back out into the world our own ever-changing personal montage of information, knowledge, meaning and selfhood.

The final article in this series will focus on “transformation in the very nature of employment.”

For more information, visit www.Rainmakerthinking.com or email Bruce Tulgan at brucet@rainmaker thinking.com.